After last week’s post about horses (and chariots), you might be wondering if we are starting an animal series.  We aren’t.

This post is about choices, and it is inspired by the story in Luke 8:26-39 and Mark 5:2-20. In the region of the Gerasene, Jesus casts demons out of a tormented man—and the demons beg him to cast them into a herd of pigs. Jesus obliges. The pigs rush into the water and drown. It’s what happens next that is important for faithful leaders seeking to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing.

Biblical Business Choices

The Pigs vs the Person

When the herdsman saw what happened, “they fled and told it in the city and in the country.”  The people came running to see what happened.

And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed^[c] man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. (Luke 8:36-37)

Rather than rejoicing for the man who was healed, the people saw their economy disrupted.  They chose revenue over reverence.  If Jesus had given them the choice, we imagine they would not have surrendered the herd of pigs to save the one man.

This is a memorable Biblical story, but it is not the only time we are told of people choosing revenue over reverence, outcome over obedience, safety over surrender, willful over faithful, the good over God’s best, the kingdom of the world over the Kingdom of God.

Profit vs the Promised Land

In Numbers 32, we learn of the business choice made by the tribes of Reuben and Gad.  After travelling for 40 years to find the Promised Land, they asked to stay behind for business reasons.

Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation . . . “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” (Numbers 

Moses ultimately agrees (with conditions).  The tribes of Reuben and Gad chose comfort and commerce over community–the “good” of prime land for livestock over the “best” of the Promised Land that all the Israelites had been seeking for decades.

Wealth vs the Way

Acts 19:23-41 talks about a significant disturbance that arose in Ephesus “concerning the Way”. Paul’s preaching was putting at risk the wealth of the silversmiths.  A silversmith named Demetrius made silver shrines of Artemis and supported local craftsmen. Paul was convincing people that “gods made with hands are not gods,” which was bad for business.

Demetrius called together the craftsmen and told them:

Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing . . .

Unlike those being persuaded, the silversmiths and craftsmen could not hear the Gospel because it threatened their business–they chose wealth over the Way.

Fortune vs Freedom

In Acts 16:16-24, we are told “a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.” Paul commanded the spirit to come out of her.  It went away and with it her owners’ “hope of gain.”  The owners proceeded to drag Paul and Silas before the magistrates claiming that they were “disturbing our city”.

Like the pig herdsman, these slave owners chose the fortune from fortune-telling over the freedom of the woman from the evil spirit of divination.

The Pigs of Today

Faithful leaders of today can learn from the business choices found in Scripture. Perhaps it is “pigs” that God calls a faithful leader to surrender.  Perhaps it is a leap of faith across a “Jordan”, leaving behind the worldly safety of a “good” for the promise of God’s best.  Perhaps it is resistance or even hostility from stakeholders who fear that their interests may be harmed by a faithful leader obediently pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, rather than business as usual toward Profit as Purpose.

“Pigs” come in various forms:

• A partnership or investors we justify despite value dissonance.

• A toxic culture we tolerate because it drives performance.

• A toxic employee we tolerate because they are a high producer.

• A product or service we offer that is profitable but undermines the pursuit of Biblical flourishing.

• A client we keep even though the product or service they offer or the burden they put upon our employees undermines our values and the pursuit of Biblical flourishing.

• A business as usual business model we cling to because it “works” and is profitable–even if it perpetuates brokenness.

Keeping the Pigs

We have written many posts focused on the choices a faithful leader must make in the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing. One of those choices is the choice between being “outcome” driven and being “obedience” driven.

To keep stretching our pig analogy, “keeping the pigs” is about choosing an outcome that aligns with the way of the kingdom of the world–business as usual.  “Surrendering the pigs” is about choosing obedience to God and the way of God’s Kingdom–business a better way.

The “kingdom of this world” reflected in business as usual demands outcome–it demands keeping the pigs.  As we have emphasized over and over, a core attribute of business as usual is a WHY of Profit as Purpose.

Business leaders have analysts, markets, and investors to keep happy. They have financial metrics to track and hurdles to achieve.  The world of business as usual measures success in terms of profit and growth.  Leaders are expected to be ruthlessly “outcome-driven” in their effort to achieve increased profits and growth.

You may be thinking “Of course, leaders without faith are outcome-driven, but aren’t faithful leaders obedience-driven?”  Not necessarily.  We believe many faithful leaders are not leading with faithful integrity through business a better way.  “Faithful leaders” fail to “lead with faithful integrity” for several reasons:

• Stuck Behind the Sunday/Monday Gap.  Some faithful leaders remain stuck behind the Sunday/Monday Gap, which means they do not see how what they do Monday-Friday is connected to the faith they practice on Sunday.  They do not bring their whole self (including their faith) to work.  Business is business as usual and faith is for Sunday.

• Stuck Behind the Sacred/Secular Gap.  Some faithful leaders have successfully crossed the Sunday/Monday Gap but remain stuck behind the Sacred/Secular Gap, which means they do not understand that their work or business has intrinsic value in God’s Kingdom.  They do not understand that the way they lead their business is a sacred vocational calling and a form of worship.  The leader should BEHAVE faithfully, but business is business as usual.

• Stuck Behind the Knowing/Doing Gap.  Some faithful leaders have successfully crossed the first two gaps but have not, or are unsure how to, lead with faithful integrity in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities toward Biblical flourishing.

•Stuck Behind the Safety/Surrender Gap. Some faithful leaders have successfully crossed the first three “wisdom” gaps but have not crossed the “heart” gap of surrendering their leadership of the organization to God, recognizing God as the owner with the leader as merely a faithful steward. Faithful stewardship involves a leader giving up leading in line with their will and leading the organization in line with God’s will. Faithful stewardship requires radical surrender, which requires radical dependence, which requires radical trust, which is the manifestation of radical faith.

• Stuck on a Side Road.  It may be that the leader is stuck on one of the faith as usual Side Roads that can knock even well-intentioned, faithful leaders off an ancient path to faithfully leading through business a better way.

For many Side Roads, the leader believes they are pursuing obedience, but it is obedience based on “bad theology” or, at least, poor communication of good theology.   In fact, they are pursuing “faithful outcomes” such as behaving better, evangelizing people, donating generously from profits or looking “Godly” that can be pursued in parallel with an organizational WHY of Profit as Purpose–in parallel with keeping the pigs.  None of these “faithful outcomes” are bad, but they are not the choice of “surrendering the pigs” for the heart of the organization.

Surrendering the Pigs

For a faithful leader wanting to lead with faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, choosing to surrender the pigs is about the obedience of choosing to do the right thing, in the right way and for the right reasons and leaving the outcome in God hands.

Despite the teaching of the Bless You Pill, there are no guarantees that God’s outcome will align with what the world would define as a “successful” outcome.  The Bible is full of examples of obedient people who did not see “success”: “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised.” (Hebrews 11:39)

Of course, God’s outcome might align.  In fact, it might align or even surpass the standards of “the kingdom of this world” most of the time because aligning a business with the beliefs, principles and priorities of God’s Kingdom is aligning it with how God designed life on earth to work.

The choice of keeping the pigs or surrendering the pigs is a choice between the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God.  It is one or the other–business as usual or business a better way.  Profit as an end or profit as a means.  The use of God’s creation as tools or the flourishing of God’s creation as purpose.

Unfortunately, saying “surrender the pigs” does not mean a faithful leader can ignore “consequences”.  Leading faithfully in a broken world will certainly bring resistance, dilemmas and difficult decisions (although probably not in the form of angry pig herders, silversmiths and slave owners).

We believe God owns everything, and the Creation Mandate (the commandment about our purpose on earth) in Genesis 1:28 charges us with stewarding God’s creation.  That means the leader of a business has the responsibility to steward that business faithfully.

Back in post #058 (Love-Respect and Sustainability-God’s limits), we suggested faithful stewardship translates practically into two things–Respect and Sustainability.  Even in choosing to surrender the pigs, “consequences” matter because they impact God’s creation, particularly humans. For example, if what appears to be obedience would likely have a worldly consequence that destroys the business or hurts many people (consequences seemingly at odds with stewardship and flourishing), prayer for wisdom followed by patience may reveal a “third way” through what seems like an “obedience/consequences” dilemma.

In his book Why Business Matters to God, Jeff Van Duzer rightly suggests that the same God who calls leaders to lead faithfully through business a better way will be present to equip those who are called:

We are not expected to fulfill the creation and redemption mandates in business relying solely on our own wisdom, judgment and perseverance. The same God who calls us to these high standards provides us with access to the discernment and power that will enable us to fulfill them.

We believe there are four keys to a faithful leader successfully surrendering their pigs–choosing obedience in a way that leads to faithful stewardship of the organization being led:  Humility, Trust, Patience, and Prayer.

• Humility.  Navigating the tension between “obedience” and “outcomes” to ensure faithful stewardship requires Godly wisdom, and humility is a key to wisdom.  The link between humility and wisdom can be seen in Proverbs 11:2: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

God is the source of all wisdom, and the Bible tells us that God will give wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5).    The faithful leader who operates without the humility to recognize the need for God’s wisdom and the need to pray for guidance is destined to run aground on the rocks of the “obedience/consequences” dilemma.

• Trust.  Of course, even the faithful leader who has the humility to recognize the need for God’s wisdom will only get the benefit of that wisdom by trusting God’s process, timing, and outcome: God’s process is often counter-intuitive and counter-cultural; God’s timing often seems excruciatingly slow; and God’s best outcome for a business may not be the world’s best outcome.

• Prayer.  God’s wisdom comes through prayer.  Of course, praying for a particular process, timing and outcome is NOT praying for God’s wisdom, and ignoring God’s wisdom to pursue your own process, timing or outcome is NOT wise–it is choosing the outcome over obedience.

• Patience:  It is difficult to read the Bible and not walk away feeling woefully impatient.  God’s story is full of people who patiently waited and persevered (the first cousin of patience) a LONG time–a VERY LONG time. There are also stories of characters who got impatient and tried to short-circuit God’s timing (and God was not pleased).

Surrendering the pigs in leading a business is “playing the long game”, and that takes Biblical patience (and perseverance).

In his book To Change the World, James Hunter effectively warns that leading faithfully through business a better way “will invariably challenge the given structures of the social order.”   He goes on: “In this light, there is no true leadership without putting at risk one’s time, wealth, reputation, and position.”

In other words, there will be resistant “pig herders, silversmith and slave owners”.  They may tell the faithful owner to get out of town, incite the crowds, or go to the magistrates.  That could look like pulling investments, de-platforming, withholding approvals, or taking their business elsewhere.

Oswald Chambers observed about surrender:

The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, “Well, what about this?” Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, “What about this?” you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God. But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions.

We believe it is time for faithful leaders to surrender their pigs–obediently crossing the Gaps, abandoning the Side Roads, getting back on an ancient path and letting God take care of the outcome.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  A special thanks to my friend Jeff Cave of Eventide for pointing out some of these Biblical business choices.

ESSENCE: After last week’s post about horses (and chariots), you might be wondering if we are starting an animal series.  We aren’t. This post is about choices, and it is inspired by Jesus casting demons into a herd of pigs and then being asked to get out of town. Faithful leaders of today can learn from the business choices found in Scripture. We have written many posts focused on the choices a faithful leader must make in the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing–business a better way over business as usual, surrender over safety, faithful over willful, God’s Kingdom over the world’s. One of the most challenging is the choice between being “outcome” driven and being “obedience” driven. God calls for obedience, but the “kingdom of this world” demands and rewards outcome. To keep stretching our pig analogy, “keeping the pigs” is about choosing an outcome that aligns with the way of the kingdom of the world–business as usual.  “Surrendering the pigs” is about choosing obedience to God and the way of God’s Kingdom. For a faithful leader wanting to lead with faithful integrity, choosing to surrender the pigs is about the obedience of choosing to do the right thing, in the right way and for the right reasons and leaving the outcome in God hands. Although leading faithfully in a broken world will certainly bring resistance, dilemmas and difficult decisions, we believe there are four keys to a faithful leader successfully choosing obedience:  Humility, Trust, Patience, and Prayer.

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